<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>US President Donald Trump has insisted that he could continue to launch strikes against alleged drug traffickers abroad without Congress first passing an official declaration of war.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I'm not going to necessarily ask for a declaration of war," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I think we're just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. Okay? We're going to kill them, you know, they're going to be like, dead."</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/us-strikes-eighth-suspected-drug-smuggling-boat/1840a1f3-1ca5-49f5-a109-673a125d3581" rel="" target="_blank" title="US strikes eighth suspected drug-carrying boat, this time in the Pacific Ocean"><strong><span>US strikes eighth suspected drug-carrying boat, this time in the Pacific Ocean</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump's dismissal came as he suggested his administration would soon begin targeting those deemed as cartel members within countries such as Venezuela, in addition to continuing to strike alleged drug boats in international waters.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The US president said he would notify Congress first before beginning any operations on "land," but contended that the plan would not face any pushback from legislators.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We going to go. I don't see any loss in going" to Congress, Trump said. </span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/donald-trump-insists-he-can-strike-suspected-drug-traffickers-without-congress-backing/c52e428f-585e-4489-bd70-3a1bd3171b8e" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We're going to tell them what we're going to do and I think they'll probably like it, except for the radical left lunatics."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The lethal strikes on vessels in the Caribbean and east Pacific have unnerved some American politicians, given the little evidence the administration has presented proving that the targets were so-called narco-terrorists.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>On Thursday, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth insisted that the military has confirmed that each targeted boat is trafficking drugs. Still, he defended the decision to return two survivors of a recent strike as "standard" practice in war.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://press.nine.com.au/item/1840a1f3-1ca5-49f5-a109-673a125d3581" target="_blank" title="Trump's deadly strikes against alleged drug boats raises legal questions"><strong><span>Trump's deadly strikes against alleged drug boats raises legal questions</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Compared to Iraq and Afghanistan, the vast majority of people that we captured on the battlefield we handed over to the home country," he said, referencing the US' wars in the Middle East.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"So in this case, those two, they were treated by American medics and handed immediately over to their countries where they came from."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump's remarks come as an American B-1 Lancer bomber flew near the coast of Venezuela on Thursday, although the president denied that the US sent the B-1 bomber.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"No, it's not accurate. No. It's false. But we're not happy with Venezuela for a lot of reasons. Drugs being one of them, but also they've been sending their prisoners into our country for years under the Biden administration, not anymore, we have a closed border," Trump said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The aircraft first appeared on flight-tracking dashboards south-west of the Dallas Fort Worth area on Thursday and at its closest point was a little more than 90km from the Venezuelan mainland.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>About nine hours later, open-source flight data showed the bomber reappearing for around 15 minutes within Venezuela's flight information region (FIR) – an area where air traffic control is provided by Venezuelan authorities.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>However, it was not immediately clear whether the plane — which was accompanied by a second aircraft during its appearance in the FIR — entered Venezuelan airspace.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>CNN has reached out to the US Defence Department for comment.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The flight comes as tensions continue to rise between the two countries following the deployment of US warships to the Caribbean on what Washington has said is part of a counter-drug trafficking campaign but Caracus fears is a cover for regime change.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Wednesday claimed his country had 5000 Russian-made Igla-S anti-aircraft missiles in "key air defence positions."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The missiles are short-range, low-altitude systems that can shoot down small aerial targets such as cruise missiles, drones and low-flying planes.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f"><em><strong><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></strong></em></a><em><strong><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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